Plant yield and the switch from vegetative to reproductive growth

✍ Scribed by G.W. Paltridge; J.V. Denholm

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1974
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 700 KB
• Volume: 44
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-5193
• DOI: 10.1016/s0022-5193(74)80027-5

✦ Synopsis

Many plants have a fairly sharp division between their vegetative and reproductive phases of growth. Switch-over does not necessarily occur at the optimum time, and the resultant drop in yield may be essentially independent of any variation in basic photosynthetic ability. If this is so, it may be necessary to compare the measured yield in any agricultural trial with the equivalent optimum yield for the particular crop. A basic mathematical model of a two-phase system is developed which involves the rates of growth of green material and grain, and takes leaf senescence and the effect of the environment on photosynthesis into account. The application of the model is discussed by reference to a well-documented wheat crop.